'Wake up call for marketers': More than half of the population in Asian countries find ads intrusive
Even though the variety of channels available to marketers has increased exponentially, ineffective multichannel strategies are jeopardising the success of campaigns, according to a new study from Kantar Millward Brown, titled ‘AdReaction: The Art of Integration’.
Ineffective and disjointed advertising runs the risk of alienating consumers, says Kantar.
The study, which examined the global state of multichannel advertising campaigns, drew on quantitative research in 45 countries, multichannel copy testing, and custom analysis of Kantar’s global media effectiveness and copy testing databases.
It found that 78% of consumers surveyed in Asia Pacific reported that they are seeing more ads in a wider variety of places than they did three years ago, with consumers in India seeing the most substantial uplift (91%), followed by the Philippines (89%). In Singapore, the figure was three quarters (73%).
Even though marketers across the region are confident in their ability to deliver campaigns across these channels, with 94% believing they deliver integrated campaigns, consumers across the region are split in their views on how well marketers are integrating their multichannel strategies.
The majority of people in the Philippines (74%) and Vietnam (73%) agreed that ads they see across channels such as TV, outdoor and digital ‘fit together well’, while only half (54%) of consumers in Singapore agreed.
However, this contrasts with the experience of consumers in Korea (36%), Japan (35%) and Australia (48%), which have more mature digital ecosystems and where less than half believe the campaigns they see are integrated.
In fact, Kantar’s analysis of global campaigns within its media effectiveness database revealed that in contrast to the confident view of marketers, fewer than half (46%) of all campaigns tested in the study could be marked as well-integrated, suggesting that consumers’ views in developed markets are closer to reality than marketers’.
Integration across channels offers marketers the opportunity to boost campaign effectiveness, as the results from the study show that well-integrated and customised ad campaigns can improve overall campaign effectiveness by as much as 57%.
As this means that brands can get more impact from their investment, more than half of marketers are therefore missing out on the opportunity to substantially boost their activity.
What’s more, ineffective and disjointed advertising runs the risk of alienating consumers as many surveyed in APAC said they were uncomfortable by this increase in advertising, with 61% agreeing that ads are more intrusive now.
Indian consumers again feel most bombarded (81%) followed by New Zealand (76%) and the Philippines (72%). People in Japan (46%), Korea (48%) and Indonesia (48%) are the least bothered by intrusive ads, however the fact that more than half of the population sees advertising in a negative light should be a wakeup call for marketers.
Many surveyed in Singapore also said they were uncomfortable with this increase in advertising, with 68% agreeing that ads are more intrusive now.
“Consumers are exposed to more advertising than ever before, and are becoming more judgemental of what they see as a result. Importantly, the study showed that people react to advertising differently depending on the channel, and crucially, they are least receptive to ads on digital media,” said Pablo Gomez, head of media and digital for APAC at Kantar Millward Brown.
“Marketers need to start thinking intelligently about how they integrate their campaigns – are they putting enough focus on customisation, is their creative strong enough throughout, have they selected the right media mix - so that they’re providing a holistic and enjoyable experience to the consumer.”
In the United Kingdom, it is a similar scenario as three quarters of consumers believe they see more ads now than they did three years ago, while two thirds think ads are generally more intrusive than they used to be as brands experiment with big data and tracking.
You can read the full report here.